A Strong Beginning To A Busy Year

Posted By
Attorney Charles Montgomery

The Family Law Section had a great annual meeting in May with high attendance
at the seminar and a lofty party overlooking old Charleston. As your section
chair for 2012-13, I am pleased to take the wheel of a juggernaut of an
organization that has a proud record of service to family lawyers, the
NCBA, and the citizens of our state. Family lawyers are exceptional people.
They are eager to serve their clients
and to improve the legal profession and the system of justice. They typically
have little interest in being on the sidelines. They want to be in the
midst of the action.

The breadth and strength of leadership in the FLS goes back more than 25
years making it one of the most active and influential sections of the
NCBA. Lori Vitale’s
leadership as last year’s chair continued that tradition. The FLS
is widely admired for leadership in areas such as Continuing Legal Education,
Legislation, the Family
Forum newsletter, and 4ALL Service Day participation. When members are
asked to serve on committees with substantial responsibilities, they take
on the tasks with energy and skill. The recent Life Time Achievement Award
winners, Howard Gum, John H. Parker, and Carlyn Poole are prime examples
of members of the FLS who have given much back to their profession and
the citizens of our state.

The Family Law Council met in July and August taking up an ambitious legislative
agenda for the upcoming 2-year term of the Legislature. Proposals that
were approved by the Council and will be submitted for approval to the
NCBA Board of Governors include:

(1) Amendments to the Adoption Statutes presented on behalf of the Adoption
Committee by Brinton Wright and Bobby Mills;

(3) Amendments to the Divisible Property Statute adding language for “passive
increases” and “passive decreases” adopted by the Council
as an alternative to the proposal presented on behalf of the ED Committee
by Arlene Reardon;

(4) Amendments to §50B providing for consent orders (in response to
Kenton) and to §50C regarding attorney’s fees presented by
Becky Watts on behalf of the Domestic Violence Committee;

Dave Holm is chair and Stephanie Gibbs is vice-chair of the Legislative
Committee that will be working with Kim Crouch, NCBA’s director
of Governmental Affairs, and the respective FLS committees to shepherd
these proposals through the legislature if they are approved by the Board
of Governors.

A special thanks goes to Shelby Benton, our liaison to the Board of Governors,
and Jacquelyn Terrell, our staff liaison, for all their special efforts
on our behalf. This is a strong start to a busy year for the FLS. The
juggernaut moves forward!

This article was originally published in the October 2012 issue of the
North Carolina Family Bar Association’s Family Forum. The article
is available online athttp://familylaw.ncbar.org. The article is reprinted here with permission of the North Carolina Family
Bar Association.

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Counsel and The Best Lawyers in America contained in this website are
not intended to suggest that our attorneys are superior to other attorneys
practicing in North Carolina. The link for Super Lawyers magazine’s
North Carolina selection information can be found here. Click here for more information on the
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The Best Lawyers in America can be found here. The AV Preeminent ® selection information can be found
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here. Charles Montgomery was featured in the 2009 Super Lawyers list.